Unida
Unida were a desert rock/stoner rock band from California, formed in 1998. Featuring the lead vocals of one John Garcia of Kyuss notoriety, the band served as his next main project (Along with Hermano) after the dissolution of Slo Burn in 1998. In their original tenure, Unida managed to release on studio album in 1999 via Man's Ruin Records and a second album independently after a host of legal wrangling with American Recordings. Unida would reunite in 2012, leading to high-profile tours throughout Europe and Australia among the stoner scene. History Coping With The Urban Coyote (1998 - 2000) Unida was founded sometime in 1998 by Arthur Seay, Miguel Cancino, Dave Dinsmore and John Garcia, the latter joining in the wake of the dissolution of Slo Burn. The band would tour Europe at some point in 1998. Dinsmore's tenure as the bassist would be short-lived though he would record four tracks with the band in August 1998 and then an album's worth of material in January 1999. Eddie Plascencia would serve as the band's bassist for North American tours and shows in that time. One of Unida's earliest known live performances would be alongside Nebula on 3 February 1999 at Spaceland in San Francisco./ Nebula Official via Wayback Machine According to Sergio Chotsourian of Los Natas the band played a house party at Scott Reeder's house in Palm Springs circa New Year's Eve 1998. Performing alongside Los Natas in their short set was Unida in what was their debut performance./ Stonerrock.com via Wayback Machine Unida would work with MeteorCity Records in releasing a split with Dozer on 20 April 1999 entitled The Best Of Wayne-Gro / Coming Down The Mountain. Recruiting former Kyuss bassist Scott Reeder after a hiatus from music, Unida would tour Europe with Nebula that May, including an appearance at Dynamo Open Air in The Netherlands. Unida would then sign with Man's Ruin Records to release their first studio album Coping With The Urban Coyote on 16 November 1999. The band toured Europe in support of the album, performing with the likes of Orange Goblin. El Coyote and Break-Up (2000 - 2004) In 2000, while Unida was mainly performing in the California area, Unida would sign with American Recordings with plans to release a studio album in 2001, recording a series of songs with George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, Screaming Trees) and Rick Rubin as the executive producer. However 2001 would come and go with no album being released. Due to Rick Rubin having a falling out with Sony, American Recordings would be absorbed by Island/Def Jam, one of many reasons the album's status was put in limbo, along with Unida being unhappy with the mixes of the then-known El Coyote.BlabbermouthAccessed 9 April 2018 The complications of the label move would ultimately delay the release and leaving the band in search for another label to release El Coyote. According to an interview with Stonerrock.com, John Garcia claimed the album cost $350,000 to make.BlabbermouthAccessed 9 April 2018 Scott Reeder would also publicly speak out about the album delays.Blabbermouth Despite not finding a label at the time the band revealed a tracklist for "El Coyote" as the band shot for a late 2002 releaseBlabbermouth, with the band touring the USA that fall. In a interview with CV Independent, Arthur Seay would speak about the complications that came with El Coyote: Ultimately, El Coyote would not get a proper release, with the band self-releasing the album at shows (Under titles such as For The Working Man or The Great Divide). On 18 March 2003, Reeder would quit Unida with "Jerry" as his replacement.Blabbermouth Reeder himself would explain his departure due to being "tired of stopping and starting for other stuff".Blabbermouth The band would perform a string of shows with Jerry before doing a June west coast tour with Paul Gray of Slipknot fame on bass.Blabbermouth Ultimately, Unida would disband in 2004. Seay, Cancino and Plascencia would form House of Broken Promises in 2005Blabbermouth while Garcia would concentrate on Hermano. Scott Reeder would eventually work with Sun & Sail Club and Fireball Ministry, along with releasing a solo album in 2006 (Tunnelvision Brilliance). Reunions (2008; 2012 - 2014) Unida (Seay, Cancino, Garcia and Plascencia) would reunite in 2008 for at least two shows that Spring: 21 February 2008 at Safari Sam's in Hollywood and 7 March 2008 at The Viper Room in West Hollywood.Blabbermouth Unida would reunite again in 2012, this time with Arthur Seay's nephew Owen on bass, aged 20 at the time of joining. The band's first show with this lineup was on 10 August 2012 at The Hood Bar & Pizza in Palm Desert, California.Blabbermouth 2013 would see Unida perform at DesertFest Berlin and DesertFest London along with a tour of New Zealand and Australia. A follow-up tour of Europe entitled The Return of The Urban Coyote would happen the next year, including appearances at Graspop Metal Meeting and Hellfest among other shows. From there House of Broken Promises while John Garcia would spark a solo career performing Kyuss, Slo Burn (Who reunited themselves years later) and Unida material among new original songs. Discography *'The Best Of Wayne-Gro / Coming Down The Mountain' (Split with Dozer) (1999, MeteorCity Records) *'Coping With The Urban Coyote' (Studio Album) (1999, Man's Ruin Records) *'El Coyote' aka For The Working Man (Studio Album) (2003, Self-Released) Members * John Garcia - Vocals (1998 - 2003, 2008, 2012 - 2014) * Miguel Cancino - Drums (1998 - 2003, 2008, 2012 - 2014) * Arthur Seay - Guitars (1998 - 2003, 2008, 2012 - 2014) * Owen Seay - Bass (2012 - 2014) * Dave Dinsmore - Bass (1998 - 2000) * Scott Reeder - Live Bass (1999 European Tour), Bass (1999 - 2003) * Eddie Plascencia - Bass (2000 - 2003, 2008) * "Jerry" - Bass (2003) * Paul Gray - Live Bass (2003) (Died 2010) List of Known Tours * 1998 UK Tour (1998) * 1999 USA Tour (1999) * April 1999 European Tour (With Nebula) (1999) * Coping With The Urban Coyote European Tour (1999) * 2003 West Coast Tour (2003) * 2013 Australia / New Zealand Tour (2013)Off The Tracks * Return of the Urban Coyote (With House of Broken Promises) (2014)Unida Band External Links *Unida on Wikipedia *Unida on Last.fm *Obelisk articles on Unida *Unida on Discogs *2012 Show Article *Rescheduled Show *2012 Interview *2003 California Date *2003 Los Angeles Gig *2003 Palm Springs Gig *2002 Show with Fireball Ministry *Unida on High Times References Category:Band Category:Unida Category:Stoner Rock Category:Stoner Metal Category:Desert Rock Category:John Garcia Category:Scott Reeder Category:Man's Ruin Records Category:California Category:Indio Category:Riverside Category:Palm Desert Category:1998